


so this is goodbye

by Duck_Life



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: 1990s, Declarations Of Love, M/M, Research, Unhappy Ending, Workplace Relationship, also elias and fiona were friends, i gave og elias a boyfriend and made myself sad, i mean you know what happens to elias
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:28:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25177687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duck_Life/pseuds/Duck_Life
Summary: 1996. Elias makes a deal with his boss, hoping he can spare the others at the Institute.
Relationships: Elias Bouchard/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 37





	so this is goodbye

“Gertrude won’t be happy you messed with her organizational system,” Elias warns, watching Fiona shuffling the statements around. 

The archival assistant just shrugs. “Fine. I’ll rip out the staples later and put everything back where I found it, I just…” She sighs. 

“You’re hiding from Emma.” 

“Aren’t you the perceptive one,” she says dryly. 

“You know, if you just… I don’t know, filed a complaint with James—”

“Oh, I’m sure he’d jump right on it,” Fiona grumbles. “That’s our bossman, always going out of his way for the lowly assistants. Real Mother Theresa, that one.” 

“Yeah… you’re right.” 

“Be  _ nice _ if Gertrude would talk to her about… I don’t know, backing off?  _ Not _ being such a cryptic bitch?”

“Wow.” They’ve known each other for a couple of years now, but he’s still not used to Fiona’s unabashed bluntness. 

“But of course she won’t,” Fiona plows ahead. “She won’t hear a single bad thing about her  _ darling _ Emma. Here’s a question— How far up someone’s arse do you have to be to be legally considered a puppeteer?” 

“Okay, okay, yeesh,” Elias says, sinking down in the rickety chair next to her. “I don’t need to be back in artifact storage for another hour. Pass me a stapler.”

  
  


Maybe it’s a  _ little _ morbid to be making out right next to the wardrobe that ate some poor old lady, but right now Elias can’t find it in himself to care. Harv finally found a break in his research, and his lunch break ends in twenty minutes. They’re damn sure going to make the most of it. 

Harv leans back, lips swollen and eyes bright. “D’you ever feel like we’re being watched?”

Elias grins. “You into that?”

“Shut up, I’m serious.” Harv rakes a hand through his unruly curls, somehow making himself look even more irresistible. 

It’s not like The Magnus Institute is a  _ normal _ place to work, by anyone’s standards. Even for the lucky ones like Harv and Elias who don’t work down in the Archives, it’s a strange place. It’s an open secret that the last Archivist got horrifically murdered by some kind of demented circus. Gertrude runs around burning shit and killing monsters, and then she walks into the breakroom for ginger turmeric tea like her life is normal. 

Fiona and Eric usually just shrug and tell Elias that that’s just the way things are sometimes. That there’s a lot more supernatural bullshit going on in the world than anyone wants to talk about.  _ More things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio _ , he thinks. 

  
  
  


James’ hand comes down on Elias’ shoulder, and despite his boss’s fragile-looking frame, his grip is strong. Almost enough to hurt. “Elias,” he says, “how long have you worked here?”

His throat feels dry. “Coming up on, uh, five years now,” he says. 

“Ever thought about moving out of artifact storage?”

He hasn’t, not really. Artifact storage is peaceful. Plus, it’s where everyone else in the Institute comes to talk shit. He gets to be his coworkers’ sounding board, therapist, gossip distributor and, occasionally, weed man. It’s nice. Makes him feel important. 

But suddenly it feels vital that he not give James the “wrong” answer, even if he’s not sure what that is. 

“I’ve considered it,” he says, praying that’s a safe thing to say. The head of the Institute has always seemed somewhat unnerving, but Elias can’t recall ever feeling this terrified of the man. James’ hand is still vicelike on his shoulder. 

  
  
  


Fiona’s empty desk sits in the corner of the Archives, gathering dust. Walking past it feels like walking past a tomb most days. Right now, Elias is having trouble tearing his eyes away from the sight. 

“Just…” Harv is there, a hand on his elbow. “Come home with me tonight. Please.” The words he isn’t saying—  _ Take care of me, let me take care of you _ — echo throughout the room. Fiona is below their feet, or trapped within a coffin, or nowhere. Gone from them forever, and all they can do is care for each other. 

  
  


Those who are unlucky enough or stupid enough to work at The Magnus Institute aren’t really a family. They’re more like hostages. Technically, Elias could quit, but where would he go? Still needs to pay rent. Still needs to cover his student loans. 

He may not be wrapped up in whatever the archival assistants are stuck in, but he’s trapped all the same. 

Besides. Harv is here. Whatever they have together, it’s still somewhat fragile, somewhat new. Elias isn’t ready to leave it behind, though. 

He might never be. 

  
  


Emma dies. It’s an “accident,” but the whispers make it pretty clear it was Gertrude’s design. And Elias never liked Emma, never trusted her, but still. Set alight like that… it’s no way to die. And what happens now? 

After Fiona died, some blond kid who looked barely out of high school showed up to take her place. Who’s going to take Emma’s place? Is this cycle just going to keep continuing, with Gertrude using up assistants and discarding them? 

Maybe that isn’t fair. She’s also trapped here, doing what she can to save the world or whatever. And all the while Elias just watches, a spectator, contributing nothing. Helping no one. It makes him feel sick and scared. 

What if whatever poison contaminates the Archives seeps into the rest of the Institute? Who’s the next person to get their throat slashed or their bones turned to ash? 

  
  


“I’ve got… I’ve got a plan,” Elias says, feverish with fear and anticipation. “There’s… I can make a deal. With James. A-and everyone will be okay, no more… no more people getting buried or burned. And you’ll be safe. You’ll be safe.”

“Elias—”

“Harv. Please. I have to do this,” he says. “Please just… let me. Let me do this. Let me go.” 

But Harv clings to him, fingers pressing indents into his shoulders, kissing him like he can draw the life out of Elias and keep it somewhere safe and sound, away from the Institute. 

  
  


Harv returns home one evening from a late night out with some of the other researchers to find the light on his answering machine blinking. He sheds his jacket and presses the play button, watching the little wheels in the tape spinning.

“Harv. Hey… h-hey, Harv. It’s me.” Elias. His voice sounds shaky and frightened, and Harv feels his heart clench. “Um. Listen, I know… I know we haven’t actually said it yet, and it’s… I wish I could… no, look, the thing is, I love you. Yeah. I do.”

Harv wants to say it back, wants to hold Elias and kiss him and wants to say it back, but Elias isn’t here. Just his voice, scared and small on the tape. 

“That was real,” Elias continues. “I promise you, that was real. I was real, and I loved you. Remember that for me, ’kay?” Rustling. The sound of Elias taking a deep breath. “Goodbye, Harv.” The message ends. 

Harv tries calling him back, but there’s no answer. 

Frantic, he phones a cab and gets to Elias’ apartment building as fast as he can, still half-drunk and flooded with fear. Something is  _ very _ wrong, and he’s worried about what he’ll find at Elias’ home. 

He doesn’t get the chance to find out. After standing outside for nearly an hour, leaning on the buzzer to first Elias’ apartment and then every other apartment in the building, he still receives no answer. No one lets him in. He just stands outside as the pale sun starts to rise, wishing desperately he could be with the one he loves. 

Dejected and terrified, Harv finally goes home at some point in the early morning. He manages to snag a few hours of sleep, plagued by nightmares. 

He wakes to the news that James Wright, head of The Magnus Institute, has passed away during the night. 


End file.
